ANN ARBOR – Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor’s resident nonprofit professional theatre, is thrilled to announce its return to in-person productions with “Pass Over” by Antoinette Nwandu, which runs March 25 through April 17, 2022.
Moses and Kitch meet under a streetlight, to talk smack, pass the time, and hope for a better life. What are they waiting for? Only Godot knows. The New York Times said “Blazingly theatrical and thrillingly tense… Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s play about young Black men in peril inaugurates the new season with unexpected joy.”
Directed by Casaundra Freeman, “Pass Over” features Dan Johnson (“Kill Move Paradise”), Justin Montgomery (“Lifespan of a Fact”), and Kevin O’Callaghan. The production and design team includes Forrest Hejkal (scenic design), Lexa B. Walker (lighting design), Krista Brown (costume design), Kennikki Jones (sound design), and Briana O’Neal (stage manager/props).
For the health, safety, and well-being of our patrons, staff, and artists, COVID safety measures will be in place. All of the artists and staff participating in the season will be required to be fully vaccinated, and patrons must bring proof of vaccination and wear a mask while in the building. Unvaccinated patrons will not be admitted. This policy is subject to change at any time, in accordance with fluctuating local, state, and federal guidelines. Please check our website for our current policy before attendance.
Theatre NOVA is located at 410 W Huron St, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. General admission tickets for plays are $22. In addition, Theatre NOVA continues to make theatre accessible by offering pay-what-you-can tickets for those who need them at all performances.
Tickets, memberships, flex passes, and subscriptions may be purchased online at
www.TheatreNOVA.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person one hour before each performance. Seating in the theatre will begin 30 minutes before each performance. There is ample free parking, and quick access to the city’s restaurants, bars, bakeries, and coffee shops. New patrons can find Theatre NOVA across Huron Street from Ann Arbor’s YMCA, through a parking lot entrance on the north side of the street. For more information, visit
www.TheatreNOVA.org.
Theatre NOVA is dedicated to raising awareness of the value and excitement of new plays and new playwrights in a diverse and expanding audience; and providing resources and outlets for playwrights to develop their craft, by importing, exporting, and developing new plays and playwrights.
Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu is a New York-based writer for stage, film, and television. Her play “Pass Over” made its New York debut at LCT3/Lincoln Center in 2018. A filmed version of the Jeff Award Winning Steppenwolf production – directed by Spike Lee – premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and at SXSW, and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Victory Gardens produced the World Premiere of her play “Breach: a manifesto on race in america through the eyes of a black girl recovering from self-hate” in February of 2018. Antoinette is a MacDowell Fellow, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, an Ars Nova Play Group alum, and a Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference Literary Fellow. Honors include a Lilly Award (2020); a Lucille Lortel Award (2019); the Whiting Award (2018); the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award (2017); the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award (2008); the Negro Ensemble Company’s Douglas Turner Ward Prize (2008), and spots on the 2016 and 2017 Kilroys lists. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Theater Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Ignition Fest, the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, the Kennedy Center, Page73, PlayPenn, Southern Rep, The Flea, Naked Angels, Fire This Time and The Movement Theater Company. Antoinette has a bachelor’s degree in English, magna cum laude, from Harvard College; an MSc from The University of Edinburgh; and an MFA from NYU Tisch. Antoinette is a writer on the second season of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It for Netflix, and will premiere her play “Tuvalu, or The Saddest Song” at the Vineyard Theater in New York City once the theater is allowed to reopen.
Casaundra Freeman (Director) is a 25-year veteran of the stage, proud member of Actor’s Equity and ecstatic to be directing “Pass Over.” She has worked on stages across the country from Alabama Shakespeare Festival to Detroit Repertory Theatre. She recently directed “The Mountaintop” in Bloomsburg, PA and has been at the helm for productions of “Who Will Sing for Lena,” “Williston,” “The Safe House” and many more. “Pass Over” will be her last theatrical project for the foreseeable future, so she’s excited to round out her career in her beloved Southeastern Michigan theatre community, and as always dedicates her work to her wonderful children Ian and Sloane and the memory of her beloved parents, Ron and Sandy Freeman.
WHO:
Moses: Justin Montgomery
Kitch: Dan Johnson*
Mister/Ossifer: Kevin O’Callaghan*
* The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Production Team:
Director: Casaundra Freeman
Set design: Forrest Hejkal
Lighting design: Lexa B. Walker
Costume design: Krista Brown
Sound design: Kennikki Jones
Stage Management/Props: Briana O’Neal
WHAT:
“Pass Over” by Antoinette Nwandu
Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Box office: 734-635-8450,
Tickets: $22 (Pay-what-you-can tickets available for every performance)
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
PASS OVER by Antoinette Nwandu
March 25 – April 17, 2022
Fri., Mar. 25, 8:00 p.m. Opening Night
Sat., Mar. 26, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 27, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Mar. 31, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 1, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 2, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 3, 2:00p.m.
Thurs., Apr. 7, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 8, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 9, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 10, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Apr. 14, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 15, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 16, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 17, 2:00 p.m.
